Good Deity is Jesus

These is None Good, but God

Only two men in the Bible are described as good men, Joseph of Arimathea and Barnabas. However, there is that account of the ruler who came to Jesus and asked Him, “Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life” (Matt. 19:16)? The response of Jesus has troubled many Bible students, for Jesus seemingly rebuked him by saying there is only one who is good and that is God.

Before discussing Jesus’ response, take notice of this remarkable person. Luke described him as a ruler who was very rich (Luke 18:18, 23). He was a morally upright man who had kept the commandments since his youth. He had high regard for Jesus, for he ran to the Master and knelt before Him (Mark 10:17). Jesus saw something very special in this ruler for the Bible says that Jesus loved him (Mark 10:21). His greatest problem was that he loved his riches more than he loved serving God.

Why did Jesus say to this ruler, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God” (Matt. 19:17)? At first look, it seems strange that while the Bible calls other men good, Jesus’ words seem to indicate that Jesus would not let anyone call Him good? Was Jesus not a good man?

Look more carefully at what Jesus said. His words do not deny that Jesus was good. They were intended to focus the ruler on who Jesus was. He was a “good teacher,” but He was far more than this. Jesus was deity! He was Emmanuel, God with us. The ruler was not talking to a man like other teachers who might have answered some Bible questions. Jesus’ words affirm that He is God! He was asking the rich ruler if he knew that his question had been asked to the Son of God, to the Creator of the world! Jesus was with God in the beginning and He was God (John 1:1). He was the One through whom all things had been created (John 1:3). The answer given to the ruler was not some theological idea of a mortal, but was an answer from Deity!

We must remember that we are in the same position as this ruler every time we study the Bible. We come to His New Testament to find answers about our lives. We come to Him to find out about the church, and the answer from this Good Teacher is the only answer, for the Teacher is God. We come to Him to find out about moral issues, and the answers He gives are the answers of the only One who is good and that is God.  This is true of every religious question which impacts our lives.

Those at the foot of Mt. Sinai heard the voice of God, and they knew that it was Deity who spoke to them. The ruler had to understand that he also was hearing the voice of God. This is true of us, for to hear Jesus is to hear Deity.

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John 19 – Crucify

Crucify!  Crucify!

In vs. 1-12, we learn that Pilate had Jesus scourged. Scourging was a vicious, brutal punishment and oftentimes it was the case that people would die while being scourged. After the scourging, the Roman soldiers made a crown of thorns. It was their way of making sport out of one of the Jews and in this case, they mocked Jesus saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” Obviously, Pilate hoped that seeing a fellow Jew treated so cruelly would cause the Jews to pity Jesus and ask for His release. Pilate had feared a riot at the time and did not want trouble with the Jewish leaders. But still, the chief priests and office had no compassion for Jesus in which they cried: “ Crucify! Crucify! ” It did not matter that Pilate did not find any guilt in Jesus. To the Jews, they found plenty of guilt because Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, which they understood as blasphemy. In fact, the Law of Moses ordained: “The one who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death” (Lev. 24:16).

So Pilate, being already fearful from what his wife said in “having nothing to do with Jesus (Matt. 27:19) and fearing the Jews, went back to talk to Jesus. Pilate was angered and said, “Do you not know that I have authority to release or to crucify You?” Of course, Jesus replied that Pilate would have absolutely no power or authority over Him unless given from above. And, even though Pilate wanted to release Jesus, he felt trapped by the Jews. And so, Pilate washes his hands in a basin of water and symbolically states that he is innocent of Jesus’ blood (27:24).

Well, in vs. 13-16, the Jews obtain the desired sentence of death by crucifixion as Pilate sat down on the judgment seat at Gabbatha. Now, this was during the day of preparation for the Passover, which would be Friday. The preparation here is to be the fixed name for the day before the Sabbath, hence Friday. And then, when we look at the addition of the word ‘Passover,’ makes this a reference to be the Friday during Passover. So, Pilate’s sentencing of Jesus fell on the Friday of the great feast of liberation itself. And, this was during the “sixth hour” (i.e., 6am if Roman time and noon if Jewish time) that they began to head towards Golgotha for Jesus’ crucifixion.

Now, in vs. 18-22, we learn that Jesus was crucified with two other men who were criminals. While on the cross, one of them begged Jesus to save them from death if He was indeed the Christ (Lk. 23:29). But, the other one rebuked his fellow criminal and asked Jesus to remember him when He came into His kingdom (Lk. 23:40-42). This is a remarkable statement by one who is about to die on a cross which Led Jesus to say to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise” (Lk. 23:43). This statement shows that while Jesus was on the earth, He forgave the sins of repentant people. But now, His plan for saving people includes: believing that He is the Christ, repenting of past sins, confessing Jesus as the Son of God, and being immersed in water. Obedience to Jesus’ commands brings salvation today, which is still salvation by grace for we do nothing to merit it.

Now, during the crucifixion, Pilate had put an inscription on Jesus’ cross (vs. 19-20). It was a common practice in crucifixions to have the charge written for all to see. And so, the writing was in essence, “Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews” and was written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek so that all who passed by it could read it. Also during this time, the soldiers gambled for Jesus’ clothing, which was a precious commodity, especially being seamless.

Now, in vs. 25-27 after Jesus committing His mother to John’s care, and after a few other comments to various people, He said, “It is finished,” meaning, the great plan of God for the redemption of humankind had been accomplished. Jesus’ activity among men upon the earth was finished and now, all that remained was the resurrection, the charge to be given to the apostles, and the ascension back to the Father in heaven.

Now, because this was the day of preparation, they did not want the crucified men to remain on the cross overnight. So, they requested that they legs be broken which would hurry death. But, when the soldiers came to break the legs of Jesus they discovered that He was already dead. But, to make sure, a soldier thrust his spear into Jesus’ side and blood and water came out indicating that indeed He was dead. And, in vs. 35, the writer wanted his readers to know that he had been an eyewitness of what had happened. But, in a sense, we were all there because Jesus died for all humankind and we all have an opportunity for the forgiveness of sin and the hope of eternal life. But, we must first come to the foot of the cross and see Jesus, our Paschal lamb.

Then, as this chapter closes (vs. 38-42), we find a wealthy Jew, Joseph of Arimathea, requesting permission to bury Jesus in his own new tomb, which was near Golgotha. He is assisted by a member of the Sanhedrin, Nicodemus, who had come to Jesus during the first year of His ministry (Jn. 3). They, prepared the body for the burial custom of the Jews and placed him in the tomb, at which time, the chief priests and Pharisees went to Pilate to request that a guard be placed at the tomb and that it be sealed to prevent anyone from stealing the body.

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Sabbath Worship

Should We Worship on the Sabbath?

In short, the Sabbath was a “holy day” of rest and worship for God’s chosen people Israel under the Law of Moses.  When God concluded the creation week, He rested on the seventh day (Saturday) – blessing it and sanctifying it (Gen. 2:2-3).  While this is significant, it is also interesting that God was silent about this until the giving of the law approximately 2,600 years later.  In fact, the first time the Sabbath is mentioned by name is in Exodus 16:23 after Israel was delivered from Egyptian bondage.  Soon after, with the giving of the Ten Commandments, God said, “Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy” (20:8).  It is important to note, that this law was not given to all peoples, only to Israel.  The Sabbath was to remind Israel of their deliverance from Egyptian bondage (Deut. 5:15); and it was a sign between Israel and God, for He had sanctified them (Exod. 31:12-17). For as long as fleshly Israel would exist as a covenant people under the Law of Moses, they were to observe the Sabbath.

However, God did not intend for that old covenant to last forever (Matt. 5:17-18), therefore he ushered in a new and better covenant (Heb. 8) designed for all people (Jew and Gentile) in Christ (Eph. 2:11-18). Interestingly, in the church age (Acts 2 and beyond) the Sabbath is never commanded nor endorsed; nor is there any biblical evidence that the early church ever worshipped on the Sabbath – yet they did on Sunday (Acts 2; 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:1-2; cf. Rev. 1:10). Paul assures us that Sabbath keeping was among the “handwriting of requirements” that was nailed to the cross (Col. 2:14-17).  Therefore, friends, to worship God acceptably we must do so according to the new covenant, not the old (Jn. 1:17; Gal. 2:16, 21; 3:10-25; 5:1-4; cf. Rom. 2:28-29), otherwise Christ will profit us nothing.

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The Definition of Marriage

The Definition of Marriage

It was never just about gay marriage. Sure, American pop culture has been driving the life-long union of homosexuals for years, and the church has been reactionary in fighting against it tooth and nail, but the over-arching point has been missed. Once God’s perfect goal for marriage and the family is taken off the table, our perception of every single relationship will be affected.

Consider the path we’ve taken in the last century. While sexual immorality is a sin that nearly spans the entirety of human existence, how each culture responds to it varies greatly. In America our taboos and socially unacceptable practices have grown weaker with each passing decade, and much of the blame for that can be placed at the feet of the church, as we have not been active with our efforts to influence culture with Christ and His Word.

With the introduction of dating, an unsupervised “good time” with marriage not even in the equation, it was only a matter of time until fornication was on the rise. The sexual revolution of the 50s, 60s, and 70s happened all around us, and all of our Christian young people weren’t just innocent bystanders. The church (generally speaking) looked the other way, so long as nobody got pregnant. Then legalized abortion came along, and inexplicably some Christians turned to it as an option to remove the consequences of extramarital sexual activity. Additionally, the church has been historically weak in its stance against abortion. We’ve continued to look the other way.

No-fault divorce then came up as a viable option, and Christian families were torn apart as divorce became a convenient option for those who weren’t able to work their problems out or stick together through tough times. The church looked the other way. Then those who used the availability of those divorces went out and began to remarry without the authorization from God’s Word. But those were our family members, our friends, people who have deep roots in our congregations. So the church looked the other way.

Then gay marriage came along, and all of a sudden the church has a backbone. We have to stand for “traditional, biblical marriage” – even though we stopped doing that decades ago. We only stand against homosexuality because it costs us nothing to do so. Very few of our family members or friends engage in it as they did with fornication and divorce and remarriage, so we have the courage to speak out and talk about the “persecution” we face from a world that labels us intolerant. You can be sure that in the next decade, some congregations will begin to yield to the homosexual rhetoric. The recently released “God and the Gay Christian” by Matthew Vines, a gay evangelical, will be the catalyst for great change and sudden “enlightenment” on the Scriptures as the issue grows closer to home for us. You see, we keep moving the line for our own convenience instead of placing it where God placed it.

Obviously I’m generalizing to some extent, but the point still stands. Our weakness on sex, marriage, and the biblical design for the home has led to a whole world of trouble in legal, cultural, and now religious spheres. An article released by the Huffington Post yesterday asked whether or not we need to reconsider adultery. After all, it seems unreasonable to expect life-long faithfulness, and people have been committing adultery for thousands of years, so maybe we should just embrace it, the writer argues.

When we say the definition of marriage has been changed, it has little to do with the attempt to include homosexual relationships. Rather, the definition has been changed to a close companionship that includes love and sex. Folks, if that’s our definition of marriage it’s no wonder that such a sacred institution has been torn apart in every way imaginable. We need to get back to the Bible’s definition, a definition that precludes any of man’s thoughts on issues like feminism, homosexuality, sexual freedom, and the “burdens” of gender roles. In the Garden, God created marriage as one man, one woman FOR LIFE (Genesis 2:23-24). Later we read that God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16). Jesus and Paul were very specific in giving the reasons for remarriage (Matthew 19:9-10, Romans 7:1-4). Paul also wrote on how the roles must reflect the relationship of Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:22-33).

When we consider it in those terms, divorce, infidelity, separate lives, or perversion of the union of the two is unconscionable. Marriage is only what God made it to be – the binding of two souls together for life, with the husband giving everything for her and her submitting to him. If we in the church confuse or water down that definition, we have no grounds upon which to call out the world for doing the same. Let’s set the standard back where it belongs.

 

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The Father of Lies

Lies – Putting out Fires

You’ve heard about the Noah movie, with all its inaccuracies and the complete misrepresentation of both God and Noah.

You’ve probably heard about the “Jesus’ wife” fragment, that single tiny writing from hundreds of years after Jesus walked the earth that people are trying to use as evidence that the “real” Jesus was different than the Jesus we read about in the Gospels accounts.

You might have read about the upcoming Fox show that will document the years between Jesus’ visit to the temple at 12 and the beginning of His ministry at 30. They’ll be examining the “coming of age” of the Son of God as He discovers that He is God’s Son and finds out what His mission is, despite the fact that there is absolutely zero documentation as to what happened in those years.

You know about the parade of “prehistoric” ancestor cave men that seems to receive a new addition every few years, despite the fact that every single one of them has been a blatant forgery.

You might have even heard of the big challenge in the world of “Christendom” that has just been released – “God and the Gay Christian.” The book looks at the six most prominent Scriptures on homosexuality and explains why they don’t really mean that homosexuality is sinful. Of course, the arguments can be easily refuted – particularly the one where the author argues that homosexuality may be an abomination, but that doesn’t mean it’s sinful – but the importance of the book is that it signals a long-developing shift in the religious world to merge Christianity with the largest anti-biblical issue in the world right now.

Though all of these challenges to the faith come from different angles, they all share one factor in common; they’re absolutely baseless, making each incredibly easy to refute. But that’s not the point. The Bible calls Satan the father of lies (John 8:44), and he’s been lying since the very beginning in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3). None of his tactics have changed. The whole point is simply to throw out enough false information and enough misguided belief systems to lead astray any who aren’t diligently seeking truth. Not everyone is going to believe every lie, but if a few people are picked off with each new mistruth the job is done.

When we visualize this discussion as what it really is in a metaphorical sense – Satan setting fires that we have to continue to work hard to douse – we see that the church is in a frightening position. We’re on defense. You don’t have to watch sports or be a military strategist to know that constantly being on defense is a bad thing. When you’re constantly fighting the lies put out by the enemy, it makes it that much harder to spread the truth on God’s terms. It’s time we stop playing defense. The Bible does not speak of the truth in terms of using it for defense, to simply hold the ground we already had. A proper worldview based on the Scriptures is one that realizes that this world belongs to God and it’s our job to win as much of it for Him as we can. Words like “Go,” “make disciples” “baptize” “teach” “preach” are not symbolic of playing defense or putting out fires.

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 talks about both defending the truth and going on offense to win our spiritual war. “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” Yes, we’re suppose to cast down arguments and everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, but we’re also supposed to go forward, tearing down strongholds and taking every thought captive to Christ. The church can’t afford to keep playing defense and holding the territory we’ve already earned. We must engage the culture, take God’s truth into the world, and stop thinking of ourselves as a small minority trying to weather a storm of postmodernism and secular humanism. Where’s our faith? God is on our side, and He goes into battle with us just as He did with Joshua and the armies of Israel. Be strong and courageous!

 

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